The one trillion tonne iceberg has broken off from an Antarctic ice shelf

A one trillion tonne iceberg has broken off from an Antarctic ice shelf, changing the shape of the Antarctic Peninsula forever.

The much‑anticipated calving from the Larsen C Ice Shelf reduces its area by more than 12 per cent, though the 5800 square km iceberg won't have an impact on sea levels as it was already floating before completely breaking away.

Researchers have previously shown the rift could increase the risk of instability leading to the wider ice shelf's collapse ‑ a fate which befell its neighbour Larsen B, seven years after it experienced its own calving event in 1995.

The iceberg that has broken off from an Antartic ice shelf

Believed to size up among the top ten on record (it is roughly 6000sqkm, the size of Auckland city), the iceberg separated from Larsen C sometime between July 10 and July 12 ‑ the event detected and confirmed separately by two Nasa satellites.

Source: Stuff.co

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